Best Recipes of 2012

A double dose of caramel—baked in with the fruit and drizzled on top—elevates the humble crisp to new levels of indulgence. Mix two types of apples for the best texture. The tender apples cook down and create a sort of thick sauce, while the firm apples hold their shape. Boiled cider, which you can purchase at specialty stores or online or make using our recipe, adds an extra splash of apple flavor.

Shhh! Don't tell anyone, but this hearty supper soup takes just an hour to make. The secret? Deli-roasted chicken and precooked sausage. Pair with breadsticks or a crusty baguette for a perfect winter meal that will fill your house with good smells.

Dawn Moore of Warren, Pennsylvania, grew up sampling buckeye candy from neighboring Ohio. It was the muse for her outrageously rich and creamy dessert, one of the finalists in our annual Best of the Midwest recipe contest.

This recipe from Linda Kay Drysdale of Riverview, Michigan, won the $10,000 top prize in one of our Best of the Midwest recipe contests. Linda's recipe calls for chops cooked in a pressure cooker, which reduces cooking time to a fifth of the oven version. Watching calories? Half a chop satisfies most people.

Arrabbiata (the Italian word for angry) is a Roman sauce of garlic, tomatoes and red chili cooked in olive oil. This recipe, inspired by a RAGBRAI vendor, offers several variations. Serve cooked penne with either a spicy red sauce or with a classic green pesto sauce. Optional toppings include rosemary-crusted grilled salmon or grilled summer squash.

The Inn at Irish Hollow in Galena, Illinois, serves this creamy, curried soup throughout the fall and winter. You can make your own crème fraîche for the garnish, or use purchased crème fraiche or sour cream.

This crowd-pleasing party recipe comes from the Midwest Living® Culinary and Craft School at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. They are sweet, salty and highly addictive! Plus, you can assemble the sandwiches a day early for easy party prep.

Asparagus fritters are a spring customer favorite at Bread and Cup in Lincoln, Nebraska. "I refer to the humble fritter as a blank canvas on which we paint the colors of the season," says chef-owner Kevin Shinn. "With the basic batter recipe, you can simply change the vegetable. We start out with asparagus and move to sweet peas, to green onions, to sweet corn and so on.

"They are very simple to make at home. In the restaurant, we serve them with a bit of local honey or our lemon garlic aioli."

This dazzler from Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Missouri, tastes as good as it looks. The dark chocolate cookie crust and ruby red berries add dramatic flair to the orange-flavor filling. Because the cake keeps well for two days, this is a great make-ahead dessert.